Its Called Enjoying Yourself
by SqueakyDolphin6
Summary: Missing scenes from The Sword Thief.  What did Ian and Amy do after they found the map in the Oh Sanctum?  The book doesn't say, so I will. Written by SqueakyDolphin6.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N This is not my story. I am posting this for a friend, SqueakyDolphin6. All reviews and replies will be to and from SqueakyDolphin6. **_

_**-JanusGirl101**_

**A/N: Hi. I have read a lot of fanfiction, but this is the first time I have ever posted a story. I hope you like it. Thank you especially to JanusGirl101 for letting me use her account to post this. Love ya! I do not own the 39 Clues.**

**I was thinking about The Sword Thief and realized that the story stops after they find the map in the Oh Sanctum and picks up again the next morning going up to Puhkansan. It got me thinking about what everyone was doing during that time. There's a lot of hours, and they are in a nice mansion. Its not like they went and sat in their rooms alone. So this story is to fill in what the book left out during that time. There will be four chapters. Enjoy.**

_**A/N: Hi, I rewrote large sections of this chapter to make it fit canon better. Special thanks to JanusGirl101 and Music4Evah for pointing out the inconsistancies in Ian's thoughts about Amy. Thanks Muse, for letting me use some of your Natalie suggestions. I hope you all like this. Thanks for reading. SqueakyDolphin6 4/30/11.**_

**It's Called Enjoying Yourself**

**Chapter 1**

**Reading in the Oh Sanctum**

Amy didn't want to leave the Oh Sanctum. There was so much here that she didn't know about her own history. Now that they'd found the map, the others were eager to leave. Dan couldn't wait to get out of "another library" and back to his gaming, Natalie was dying for a shower to clean off the dust and the smell of mildew from Uncle Alistair's little treasure house, and Alistair himself, having gotten over the excitement of finding their next step, was ready to get back to the nap that had been so rudely interrupted earlier.

But Amy didn't know when she would ever have another chance to learn so much about the Cahills and she wanted to take advantage of every second to pour through the Oh collection. She asked Uncle Alistair if she could stay, longing obvious in her eyes.

"Please, Uncle Alistair? I'll be very careful. I can't lose this opportunity," Amy pleaded.

Uncle Alistair looked somewhat concerned. "Well, I'd hate for anything to happen to you out here on your own. You might get lost in the hedge maze, or accidentally upset Buffy." His eyes slid to Ian, who surreptitiously rubbed his backside and quickly looked away.

Amy looked around at her companions. She looked pleadingly at Dan.

"Nope, sorry Amy. I did my time. We found the map, now I'm outta here."

Natalie was studiously brushing dust off her skirt and purposely avoided Amy's gaze. Ian also appeared not to have heard, as he seemed deeply engrossed in a pamphlet.

"Uncle Alistair? Will you stay?"

"Sorry, dear girl. Old men like me need their afternoon naps."

Amy sighed in defeat. "Oh well, it _would_ have been a great opportunity." She got ready to leave with the others, looking around wistfully at all the wonderful, old books on the shelves.

Ian finally looked up from his pamphlet and said, "I'll stay with her. I'd like to do some more reading here myself, if you don't mind, Alistair."

They all looked at him in surprise.

"Besides, I think I know how to navigate out here now," Ian added with a rueful grin. He had secretly been planning to find a way to stay anyway, and this was the perfect excuse. He hoped to find some Ekaterina information that could tip him off to another clue or two. And then there was his secondary mission, to make Amy Cahill like and trust him so she would continue their alliance until they found this clue and maybe possibly give up any others they had. He could use their time alone in the Oh Sanctum to work on that goal also.

Amy's eyes widened panic, but she said nothing. She didn't want to be alone here with Ian Kabra, but she really did want to stay and keep reading. After some consideration Uncle Alistair agreed that Amy could stay, now that Ian was going to stay with her. Amy realized that putting up with Ian was the only way she would get to stay and read, so she grudgingly agreed. Once it was settled everyone else left quickly, and the two teens were left alone in the Oh sanctum.

Amy eagerly made her way to the shelves to pour over the materials there. Ian silently kept his distance and waited for an opportunity to "woo" her, doing his own research in the mean time. He thought about Amy while he searched, considering ways to manipulate her. There was something about her that fascinated him, but he couldn't put his finger on what. There was nothing at all special about the girl. She was average-looking, poor, and so shy she couldn't speak in public. She was so beneath him. Yet somehow, despite her disadvantages, he didn't really see her that way. Her joyful appreciation of the simplest things was mystifying and her intelligence was a challenge, even to him. Amy, along with her annoying brother, had actually bested him twice on the clue hunt so far. It was only because he and Natalie had access to the best Lucian equipment that they had managed to grab the Lucian serum for themselves. How unlikely! Yet, that was why he was here, doing this, to gain Amy and Dan's help. _That and spying on the Ekats, _he reminded himself_._

Ian tried to keep his mind on searching for Ekaterina secrets, but he couldn't help sneaking glances over at the quiet girl across the room. He had to find an opportunity to work on winning her affections. Amy was obviously deep into her reading and completely ignoring him, but her presence there was, for some reason, distracting him from his own research. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't concentrate. And that made him feel anxious and restless. Worst of all, this was not Kabra behavior. Kabras were in control and confident. _The sooner we find the clue and end this alliance the better,_ he decided.

Then, suddenly, he saw an opening with Amy. She was on tiptoe, trying to reach an oversized volume on the top shelf. Amy couldn't quite reach the book, and it was teetering on the edge, about to fall.

"Here, let me help you with that," Ian said, while moving quickly towards her. He easily lifted the heavy book and brought it down, brushing his fingers against her hand and smiled dazzlingly as he gave it to her.

At the touch of Ian's hand Amy started and jerked her own hands, and the book, away, while shooting him a nasty glance. She blushed and quickly looked down. She had overreacted, she knew. He was probably only trying to be nice. _Ian, nice? Not likely!_ She thought to herself. But she darted a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. He was turned slightly away from her, chin up, apparently looking at some books, but he had a slight frown on his face instead of his usual confident smirk. _I couldn't have hurt him, could I? No way. But that __was__ kind of rude of me._

"Th-thank you," Amy quietly murmured, "those books up there are kind of high for me."

"No problem," Ian responded shortly, and then went back to studying the books. Amy sighed, then took her big book and sat down to read.

Ian was confused. What was the problem with this girl? Most girls were all over him the moment they saw him. Most girls would be using the time alone here in this ancient little room to try to get _him_ interested in them, trying to draw him into conversation by teasing and flirting with him, to his complete disgust. But Amy was different. She seemed to want him to go away. Why did she despise him so? Sure, they'd left each other for dead a couple of times, but that was the clue hunt. It was expected. Amy seemed to be taking it personally though. Strange. He began to suspect that getting her to like him was going to be harder than he thought.

Amy was determined to focus and absorb every scrap of information in this room. There was so little time and so much to learn. How could Grace have kept all this history about their family from her? Why hadn't she told them anything? Why hadn't her parents? It seemed that Grace had taught them some things they would need to know, but secretly. She and Dan didn't even know what they actually knew about the clue hunt. It was like they had been programmed to have certain knowledge pop up only when it was needed. Why had they been left at such a disadvantage in this hunt when families like the Kabras were openly teaching their children the family history and secrets when they were toddlers? The Kabras. _Ian_..._(sigh)…Rats._ She was doing it again. Thinking about Ian despite being determined not to.

This wasn't going well. Amy was so frustrated she felt like screaming. She was having a very hard time understanding anything she read and it was all Ian's fault. Why did he have to agree to stay here with her? Why couldn't Dan have stayed, or Uncle Alistair? Ian was distracting her. Despite herself she kept sneaking quick glances at him. Once she thought she saw Ian turn away quickly just as she looked at him, but she figured it was just her imagination. _Ugh, what is wrong with me?_ She bent her head back down and with a sigh began the same paragraph for the 10th time.

Suddenly the book in Amy's lap slammed shut. She jumped about a foot and looked up right into determined amber eyes, hovering only inches above hers.

"Come on, let's go," he commanded. "We've been at this for," he paused to quickly check his cell phone, "more than two hours now. It is hot and there is a rather unpleasant odour in here. If we leave now we'll have time to cool off and relax in Alistair's little pool before dinner. What do you say?"

"Uh…y-yeah, I g-guess so," Amy mumbled. Her heart was still racing from the sudden shock of Ian's attack, as well as from how close he had been. She wearily rubbed her eyes, leaving a smudge of dust on one cheek. She looked around regretfully at the Oh Sanctum, then got up and carefully placed the heavy book down on the chair she'd been sitting in. She knew she would never get much reading done with Ian in here with her. Too bad. He was right, she ruefully agreed, it really was getting hot in here, and there was the distinct smell of old, moldy books and rodents. She definitely was not going to swim, though, not with Ian around. _Not a chance!_ She needed to be alone and have a chance to clear her head. She followed Ian as he held the door open for her, only stumbling a little bit on the door jam. They blinked in the bright afternoon light and began the walk back to Uncle Alistair's house.

The two teens trudged through the hedge maze in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. _Say something!_ Amy thought desperately to herself. _Say anything. No, not anything. It will come out stupid and he'll think I'm an idiot. Who cares what he thinks about me anyway, he's just a big jerk that ruined my chance to learn about the Cahills' history. He probably did that on purpose so I wouldn't learn anything helpful or important. Jerk. Ugh, this is so awkward! Come on, Amy, say something intelligent!_

Meanwhile Ian was reviewing the information he'd gathered so far, which was nothing much, really. Yes, Alistair had some unique documents, but the information they held had, for the most part, already been uncovered by Lucian operatives in the past. Ian felt confident that Alistair and his little cache of "secret" information were of no use and were definitely no threat. He had spent the whole afternoon in that dumpy old room with that nerdy little bookworm and come up with no new or important information, and after putting up with all that, Amy didn't even seem interested in him. It had all been a complete waste of time. Although, when he'd suggested leaving she had agreed to come with him. Maybe she was warming up to him after all. So maybe it hadn't been a complete waste. But he needed to find _some_ inside info to get ahead. Alistair _had_ to have something useful. _I just have to find it,_ he thought, with renewed determination.

Amy finally managed to think of something to say. "S-so your p-parents really taught you and N-Natalie all about the clues and Cahill history from when you were babies?" she asked quietly. Ian turned to look at her, quickly covering his surprise at the sudden interruption to his thoughts with his signature smirk.

"Of course. We've had the Cahill story drilled into us since before we could walk. I don't know what Grace was thinking, or your parents for that matter, leaving you without a "clue" about your own family history." He chuckled lightly at his pun. "Not preparing you left you and Daniel hopelessly behind…well, everyone else. It seems rather neglectful to me."

Amy didn't respond. She was too busy trying to blink away the tears that had started forming in her eyes. _Jerk!_ She thought. _How dare he say anything about my parents and Grace. Thoughtless, insensitive jerk!_ The problem was, he was right. She and Dan really were handicapped by not knowing anything about their heritage or the clue hunt. Why hadn't Grace explained anything? Or at least warned them about what was to come?

They had reached Alistair's mansion by this time. As they entered the front foyer Ian said,

"So, I'll see you down at the pool then?"

"N-No," Amy replied, "I think I'm going to go rest in my room." She just wanted to get away from him and be alone to think.

Ian's face was a mixture of surprise, amusement and a touch of confusion. She didn't want to go swimming with him? _Really?_ He knew girls who would kill for that opportunity. He even had a couple of scars to show for it.

"Okay then," he raised an eyebrow and smirked at her, "have fun in your room." He strode off toward his own room without looking back.

"B-Bye," Amy whispered to his retreating back, then turned to go. But before she went to her room she needed to check on Dan. Where would he be? Oh, right, the gaming rooms. Amy found Dan a few minutes later in one of the gaming rooms, sitting hunched and tense on the couch in front of the huge screen. His eyes were glazed and seemed to be fused wide open. He'd probably been in here for hours.

"Hey Dan," she said. No response. "Dan? DAN!" Amy finally shook him as she yelled, and that broke his concentration.

"Hey, look what you made me do! Oh man, it took forever to get to that level and now I have to start over." He stopped his rant long enough to look around and see who had interrupted him. "Oh, hey Amy. How'd it go in the smelly, old library? What time is it, anyway?"

"It went fine, and you've been in here nearly three hours," responded his sister.

"Three hours? Cool!" Dan said. "Wait, you were with that snake boy for three hours? Are you okay? What did he do to you to make you stay with him? I bet he hypnotized you with his cobra eyes and cast a love spell on you."

"Shut up, Dan," Amy sighed.

"Ooh, defending your boyfriend, huh? He did mess your brain up. I knew it!"

"Dan, Ian's a jerk, but he didn't do anything to me. We just read. I don't know why Uncle Alistair trusted him in there, though. He was so obviously looking for Ekat secrets."

"Well, did you learn anything useful?" Dan asked. Amy sighed again,

"No, I had a hard time concentrating. I guess I'm tired from all the traveling."

"Uh huh. Right. Couldn't concentrate, huh? Did it maybe have anything to do with being in the presence of a Cobra?"

"Dan!" Amy shouted and shoved him. He shoved back. Soon they were shoving and tickling and laughing, and couch cushions were flying everywhere. Finally they paused to catch their breaths.

Dan said, "Seriously though, Amy, you should be careful around Ian. You know we can't trust him."

"I know, Dan. I know. Don't worry, I don't trust him. And thanks," Amy said. "I'm going to go to my room now and change. Dinner's probably soon. You might want to think about freshening up yourself." She gave a loud sniff to make her point, then made a quick exit before she could be hit by another flying cushion.

* * *

Ian changed quickly, then sauntered down to the pool. For some reason the idea of a refreshing swim wasn't as enticing to him now as it had been when he'd suggested it to Amy.

Predictably Natalie was already lying on a chair by the pool and looking like she'd been there for a while. She had on a sparkly pink bikini, her diamond-encrusted sunglasses and a large, floppy hat. She was covered in sunscreen and reading the same Korean People magazine that she'd had earlier. A half-filled glass of iced lemonade stood on a low table beside her. She looked completely relaxed and in her element. Ian walked over to her.

"Natalie."

Natalie put down her magazine, raised her sunglasses and looked up at him. "Oh, Ian. You're back. I was starting to wonder what had become of you."

"Well, I'm here now. What have you been up to?" Ian responded coolly.

"Oh, you know, I've been trying to enjoy myself here by this little pool, but I cannot believe the incompetence of Alistair's staff. Honestly, I asked for fresh ice in my glass _ages_ ago and no one has come to bring it. And another thing – Korean magazines! How do they expect normal people to read this stuff? How about some English publications? If you can't read the fashion analysis what's the point? They could at least have Vogue or Elle."

"Natalie, could you please take a breath and stop thinking about fashion moment?" Ian broke in.

"Why, is there something more important to think about?"

He just raised his eyebrows at her and waited. Finally it dawned on her,

"Oh, that's right. How did your little mission go? Did you accumulate any useful Ekat secrets for us?

Ian looked around quickly to make sure they were still alone. Then he scoffed, "No, Alistair doesn't seem to have anything of use to us."

"Doesn't seem to? You mean you didn't actually check everything in that little room? You were gone so long. What were you doing then?" Ian shuffled his feet slightly and looked uncomfortable as he gazed out over the pool.

Natalie gasped, "You were with that Cahill girl all this time! Eew! You're supposed to make her like you, not the other way around."

"What?" Ian retorted, "I don't like her. It was hot and unpleasant in there, and that made it hard to concentrate. I could actually hear rodents climbing in the walls. But I put up with all that to do my job," he finished, rather angrily.

"Getting Amy Cahill to like you, right?"

"Right. No. Looking for valuable Ekaterina secrets and you know it. And there weren't any that we don't already know."

"So how's your other little assignment coming then?"

"What other…Oh. Natalie, stop it," Ian warned. "She's a necessary tactic for right now. Temporary. Nothing special. Now I'm going swimming to cool off." With that he dove gracefully into the pool.

"Yes, you do that, brother," Natalie murmured, "You do need to cool off."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi, SqueakyDolphin6 here again. Thank you everyone who reviewed, favorited and alerted this story. You are great! Thank you especially to Evanescence456 and JanusGirl101 who pointed out that Ian was thinking about Amy too much in Chapter 1. You are right. I'm having a hard time getting into Ian's head and getting him to not think about Amy so much. I'd appreciate help on that (Alex Almighty, are you out there?). Extra special thanks to JanusGirl101 for posting this for me. Love ya lots! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own 39 Clues, Chopin, David Archuletta, the song "Crush," Twilight or Robert Pattinson.**

**Now, on to the story. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

**Evening in the Oh Mansion**

It was dinnertime. Amy had showered and changed. She had tried to rest, but couldn't. Her mind was in a jumble about so many things; the clue hunt, the history of the Cahill family, why she and Dan had not been told about any of it before now, the random hints Grace had filled their minds with without explaining anything, and Ian's strange, suddenly sort-of nice behavior. It all swirled around in her brain in confusion. The thought of joining everyone else for dinner made her hyperventilate. She didn't know if she could be around the others and act normal. _Okay Amy, calm down. You can do this, _she told herself. She checked herself in the mirror one last time. She looked the same as ever. _Oh well, not much I can do about that._ She took a deep breath and opened the door to her room.

As Amy made her way toward the common room she heard beautiful piano music. She recognized it as a Chopin sonata, a very difficult piece which was being played beautifully, with skill and emotion. Amy smiled to herself. She recognized this piece from Grace's music collection. She had always liked how the notes cascaded down the keyboard like a waterfall. It reminded her of the music from her long-ago ballet classes and made her want to dance.

Amy remembered seeing a piano in the large, central room of the house earlier, when they'd been shown around. It had been impossible to miss. The white, lacquered concert grand piano had been placed in the center of one wall, where it was sure to attract the most attention. She wondered who was playing it now. She didn't remember Uncle Alistair ever mentioning being able to play piano, but maybe he did.

Now, as Amy turned the corner into the grand room she stopped short, her mouth falling open. The sight of Ian, his cinnamon skin and dark hair a striking contrast to the white piano, his hands gracefully dancing over the keyboard, made her heart race and her brain screech to a halt.

"Wow," she breathed. The complicated music was perfect for showing off Ian's talent. She could have stood there and watched him play for hours.

Ian didn't seem to notice her, his eyes fixed on the instrument he was so expertly playing, but almost as soon as Amy walked into the room he stopped playing Chopin and began to play "Crush," by David Archuleta. Amy recognized the song immediately. She was a little disappointed that the classical music had ended, but Ian was mesmerizing, even playing a popular song. She stood there watching him for a moment longer, until she realized something. _Wait. That's a love song! What?_ Her mouth snapped shut and she turned and practically flew across the room toward the dining room, her face flaming. She glanced back once and saw Ian look up at her with a smug grin and a wink. Amy snapped her chin up and flounced out of the room.

Natalie strolled in just after Amy left. She leaned up against the piano, arms crossed, watching her brother play for a moment.

"That's funny, brother, I don't remember Dr. Morgan assigning you that piece before. Is there any particular reason you're playing it now?"

Ignoring the question, Ian stopped playing, stood and said, "I believe it is time for dinner. Shall we?"

Natalie narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, then brushed past him toward the dining room. Ian smiled victoriously as he followed Natalie. _I saw you, Amy Cahill. You _liked_ watching me play, _he thought smugly. _Mum was right. Continuing to keep up my piano playing certainly does pay off._

* * *

Just two more steps and Amy was able to collapse into a chair at the dinner table, resting her burning face in her trembling hands. H

ad Ian been playing that song for her? He had to have been making fun of her somehow. Why did he insist on teasing and embarrassing her? She wished he would just leave her and her messed up emotions alone.

Nellie came into the dining room carrying a large bowl of some squishy-looking vegetables.

"Amy, you're here. Great! Can you grab some of those bowls over there and put them out on the table? Thanks." She gestured with one elbow toward the side table, where bowls, plates and various utensils were neatly lined up.

With a sigh Amy pushed herself up and went to pick up the plates. Her hands were shaking so badly that she changed her mind and grabbed some utensils instead. The last thing she needed was to break something due to nerves.

As she began to set the table Natalie and Ian came in. _Oh great,_ she thought,_ this should be fun._ Her shaking hands clanked a couple of spoons together so hard that one spoon shot off the table and skidded underneath it. Amy dove down after it, hoping

no-one had noticed, but as she groped around in the semi-darkness she felt someone's fingers brush hers. With a startled gasp she looked up to see Ian staring at her, spoon in hand. He handed it to Amy, raising an eyebrow as he did. Speechless, Amy grabbed the spoon and backed out from under the table so quickly that she banged her head hard on its edge. Plates and glasses rattled.

"Ow!" she cried out, hand on her head. She knew her face had to be bright red. It was all she could do to hold back tears. How humiliating.

Dan happened to walk in just as Amy banged her head. He cracked up laughing.

"Good job, Klutz. That's my sister."

Thankfully Nellie was not in the room, but Natalie laughed too and said, "Somebody is having a little trouble tonight."

Ian caught her glance and frowned, shaking his head slightly. Amy couldn't look at anything but the floor. She wanted so badly for it to open up and swallow her right then.

Just then Nellie came back in with another big bowl, this one full of rice.

"Oh good, you guys are all here. You can help Amy finish setting the table."

The Kabras looked at Nellie with astonishment, like she'd just turned purple and grown a horn out of her forehead.

Dan shook his head and then said slowly, as though he was talking to four year olds, "It's called h-e-l-p-i-n-g. You do it like this." He grabbed a couple of bowls and thrust one at each Kabra. "Okay, now put it on the table where someone is going to sit."

Ian and Natalie set their bowls down and quickly stepped back, looks of horror and disgust crossing their faces.

"We know what helping is, Moron, and it is for the servants to do, not we Kabras. Menial labor is FLO," Natalie snapped at Dan.

Nellie looked at the two spoiled kids in disgust, then shrugged and said, "Well, anyway, Alistair's bringing out the last pot and then we can eat. He's been teaching me how to make some traditional Korean dishes. This food is amazing! You guys have _got_ to try this stuff! The spices are so good and everything tastes so fresh. I _love_ the sea vegetables we used. And did you know they use hot chili pepper paste? Awesome! That stuff there is called kimchi, which is my new favorite food. Mm…" Nellie babbled on in excitement while everyone else found places to sit.

Amy and Dan were used to Nellie's exotic taste, so they sat down right away and started helping themselves. Dan was starving and knew he'd pretty much love anything Nellie cooked, and Amy enjoyed trying new foods in the countries they were in, when they had time to actually eat, that is. Ian and Natalie, however, looked like they suspected poison had been put in the food.

"Did you say sea vegetables? As in seaweed? So that's what that smell is," Natalie whined.

Ian mumbled, "Well, actually, I rather prefer a nice, grass-fed veal steak, or perhaps roast pheasant."

"Sorry, fresh out of pheasant," said Nellie cheerfully, "so if you're hungry then you'll have to eat the bibimbap."

Dan stopped shoveling food into his mouth for a moment to ask, "Why so picky? I thought you guys were sophisticated world travelers and stuff?" Rice and vegetable bits flew out of his mouth as he spoke.

"Eew! Swallow first, then speak, please," sneered Natalie, looking completely grossed-out.

"We usually have our personal chefs prepare our specially ordered meals each day and air lift them to wherever we are. That way we can be sure our meals are prepared according to our exact standards," Ian explained. "Travel can be inconvenient, but it helps to have good staff."

"Yes, whatever happened to _your_ kitchen staff?" Natalie asked Alistair innocently.

Amy huffed and rolled her eyes. _They are so rude! And spoiled! I bet they don't have any idea how much money they waste._ _I can't believe I liked his playing. Yuck! _The snobby, superior attitudes of the Kabras turned her stomach. She didn't feel like eating anymore, even though Nellie's cooking was delicious as usual.

At last dinner was over. Harold came around to clear the dishes. Alistair got up from his chair at the head of the table and cleared his throat.

"Children, it has been a very long day. I am going to retire for the evening. Please feel free to make yourselves at home. If there is anything you need, Harold will see to it. Please try not to damage anything." He gave a pointed look at Dan, "and please get some sleep. We must get an early start tomorrow morning if we are going to follow that map." With that he shuffled out of the room.

"Amy," Ian said, "I noticed a chess set in the den. Would you care to play a game?" He had intended to spend any spare time snooping around the Oh mansion, but he and Natalie had done a cursory sweep earlier and hadn't found anything obvious. If Alistair was hiding anything here they wouldn't be able to find it tonight. Besides, an evening spent beating Amy at chess just might be more profitable, not to mention more diverting.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him, evaluating. Was Ian going to use this as yet another opportunity to tease her? Probably. But she did know how to play chess pretty well. She could beat Grace and just about anyone else she played. This could be her chance to show Ian up for a change. She looked Ian in the eyes and said,

"Che-chess would be fun."

"Oh, no, not chess!" moaned Dan. "The only thing more boring than libraries is chess. It figures you would both like that too. I'm going back to the game room. See ya."

"Hey Kiddo, remember what your Uncle said. We have to get up really early tomorrow, so no gaming all night," Nellie warned.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about me," Dan called, as he dashed out the door.

Natalie got up to go too.

"Not that a good game of chess isn't an exciting way to spend an evening, but I want to relax. Didn't I see a media room somewhere? Maybe they have Twilight. Robert Pattinson is so dreamy. Have fun you two."

"Now that's gross! Sparkly vampires. Ugh!" came Dan's retreating voice from the other room.

"Well, I'm going to hang out in that amazing kitchen some more, maybe check out some of the Korean cookbooks a little closer. If you guys need some food or anything, you know where I am. Oh, and I'm within screaming distance, okay?" Nellie gave a meaningful look to Amy, quickly tilting her head toward Ian to let Amy know she had backup if she needed it. She glared fiercely at Ian and then left the dining room.

"Okay Nellie, see you later," said Amy. Then, turning to Ian she said, "So, chess. L-let's go."

* * *

The chess set was beautiful, white and black marble inlaid with gold and silver. Amy loved the rich feel of the pieces and the soft "clink" they made as they were set on the board. She chose white so Ian was black. The game progressed slowly, each determined to beat the other. They played in silence for a while, both teens concentrating hard.

Every once in a while Amy would peek up at Ian from under her lashes while he pondered his next move. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach each time she looked at him, and she would be temporarily distracted by the memory of his piano playing, of his hand on her shoulder in the Oh Sanctum that afternoon or of their brief touch under the table. Mentally shaking the memories away, she would have to remind herself what a jerk he was and refocus on the game.

It was during one of these distracted times that Amy completely missed her turn, but just kept sitting there, daydreaming. Finally Ian gave a big, fake yawn and looked at his watch in a very obvious way.

"What?" Amy asked.

"Need more time to think?" he responded.

"Actually, yes, thank you." Amy stuck her tongue out at him and then proceeded to get up and stretch, wander slowly around the room, carefully looking at all the knickknacks and pictures, retie both shoes, and then, finally, sit back down and rethink her next move. This time she gave Ian a smirk.

Ian smiled to himself. Her teasing was charming. Amy was starting to relax around him and lower her guard. _Good, keep it up, Ian._ She wasn't bad at chess, either, though she was certainly no supercomputer. He could see he would win this game, but should he go easy on her? If he let her off easily she might get offended, but if he beat her she might get mad.

"Hmm," he mused quietly. Amy looked up at him questioningly. _Oops, didn't mean to say that out loud…_ "Oh, just trying to decide how easy to go on you."

"You don't have to," Amy said, indignation driving away her stutter. "You might be surprised."

"Well, you don't look like a computer to me, so I really don't have to worry." He grinned at her.

"Oh yeah?" she glared at him. _Ooh, that pompous jerk. I'll show him, _Amy fumed to herself. They lapsed back into silence, both concentrating hard again, until Ian finally won, though not easily. Amy seethed. It wasn't fair. How could he be so good at everything? And distractingly good-looking too? _Ugh!_ Then she yawned.

"What time is it? It must be pretty late. I'd better get to bed."

Ian checked his watch. "Its 10 o'clock. We played for nearly two hours. Come on, let's go." He held out his hand to Amy, who ignored it as she left the room.

As they walked towards the bedrooms together Ian smiled sincerely at Amy. "That was invigorating. Thank you for giving me a bit of a challenge. No one I know will play against me anymore, so I have to resort to playing a Russian supercomputer. I enjoyed playing a real person for a change."

She gave him a small smile back. "I know what you mean. I can't get anyone to play with me anymore either."

"Well, if you ever need a live chess opponent again, I would be honored to oblige. Goodnight." Ian turned to go to his room, and Amy went to hers.

As Ian got ready and got into bed he thought back over the day. It had been successful over all, he mused. Flew here to Korea, got bitten by a crazy dog-monster. _Okay, that part wasn't so good._ Found the next lead, made Amy blush a few times, went swimming, practiced piano. He chuckled at the memory. Sitting on that hard piano bench had made the bite marks hurt again, but it had been worth it to see Amy's face. Remembering how she'd watched him play with such admiration made his stomach do a little flip-flop. He thought about how she'd teased him while playing chess. That had been – enjoyable._ Its too bad she gets embarrassed so easily._ They could probably have stimulating conversations if she could get past her shyness. She challenged him, and he couldn't resist a challenge. Ian closed his eyes to sleep, but instead of darkness he saw Amy's frowning face and accusing eyes.

Amy got ready for bed, thinking about Ian the entire time. She had actually kind-of had fun playing chess with him. His behavior the last two days was confusing her. First he'd be nice, then he'd tease her, then he'd be his usual, horrible self. She couldn't figure it out. He'd tricked her and tried to kill her more than once in the last couple of weeks, and now, here, he suddenly seemed to want to spend time with her. Why? She knew it had to be some sort of trick and she shouldn't trust him, but it would be so much easier to be on her guard if he weren't so attractive, and intelligent, and talented, and good at chess…With a sigh she closed her eyes, only to see Ian's intense gaze staring back at her.

**A/N: I worked really hard on this, so I hope you liked it. Please let me know what you thought.**

**Now I get to explain myself. The piano scene: Would Ian be able to play Chopin? Well, maybe. We already know he can play piano well, see **_**One False Note**_**. I think it is the kind of music Ian would want to play, and with the right motivation (practice on pain of death) he would work hard at it and become an excellent pianist.**

**Amy's reaction to Ian playing: Yes, I stole that from **_**Viper's Nest**_**, when she first saw Kurt. But, come on, we all know that the sight of Ian playing amazing piano music has got to be way more wow-inducing than the sight of Kurt in some dusty office in South Africa. Yeah.**

**The Korean dinner: My apologies to anyone who knows anything about Korean food. I don't. I did the barest minimum of research on that, so if I messed up, again, I'm sorry.**

**The chess game: We know they both play chess. Once again, see **_**One False Note**_** and **_**The Viper's Nest**_**. I just couldn't resist having them play each other. Besides, what else are they going to do in Alistair's mansion all evening? Watch Twilight? I don't think so.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi, SqueakyDolphin6 here again. Thank you, JanusGirl101 for posting this for me! Here is the 3rd chapter. This one was a little harder to write, so I took a long time on it. I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own 39 Clues, Peter Leranges, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, Old Navy or Shakespeare. Just so you know.**

**Its Called Enjoying Yourself**

**Chapter 3**

**Midnight in the Oh Kitchen**

Amy couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable in the strange bed. It was just another unfamiliar bed in a series of them she'd been crashing in lately. Sometimes she just longed for her own familiar room and bed and pillow.

She tried counting through the Dewey Decimal system by subject to get sleepy, but when she got to history she started thinking about her family history. She wondered how many influential Cahills there had been that she didn't know about. She thought about what they'd learned today, about Gideon and Olivia, Gideon's formula, how their house burned down and the ensuing feud between the four children. Those events so long ago had resulted in influencing world history for centuries, and it had all started with a fire. Dan had said, "What's with Cahills and fire?" That reminded her of their own house burning down, of her parents trapped inside. Then Grace's mansion burned. Grace. She was gone now.

It all suddenly overwhelmed Amy. She felt so alone. Grace had left her to take on this terrifying quest by herself. There was so much responsibility on her and no one to help and guide her. She had to watch out for Dan, keep him safe, avoid evil relatives, find the clues. She just couldn't do this.

The tears came slowly at first, then faster, until Amy was sobbing out loud, curled into a ball on the bed, holding the pillow to her face to muffle the sobs. It was the first time since Grace's funeral that she was able to let herself go and cry. _Oh Mom, Dad, Grace. I'm so alone. I'm so afraid. I can't do this. Why aren't you here to help me? _

When Amy's crying had finally subsided she felt drained and somewhat calmer, but not tired at all. Resigned to not getting much sleep that night, she turned on the light and picked up the book she'd been reading on the plane. It was _Pride and Prejudice_, by Jane Austen. She had bought it at the Tokyo airport for something light to read as a change of pace from travel guides and histories. The story seemed to fit some parts of her life remarkably. It was about a handsome, snobby rich guy who is rude and obnoxious to a beautiful, lively and intelligent but poor girl who hates him in return.

Just as Amy was finding her place in the book her stomach rumbled. _Oh yeah._ She had been too repulsed by the company to eat much at dinner. Maybe she could find a snack in the kitchen and have some warm milk to get sleepy. She took her book and quietly padded out the door and down the hall. The huge house was dark and silent, but a small light had been thoughtfully left on in the kitchen. She poked around, a bit sheepishly, not liking to be nosy in someone else's house, and finally found a box of crackers and a mug for milk. She heated the milk in the microwave and then sat down at the small table in the corner, book propped in one hand as she had her snack.

She had just got to the part where proud Mr. Darcy confesses his love to Elizabeth and asks her to marry him, despite her many disadvantages, and Elizabeth refuses him in the nastiest way possible. _Yeah, so there, jerk! _she was thinking, when a smooth, British voice said,

"Nice pajamas. Do you make a habit of sleeping in your dirty laundry?"

* * *

Ian was having a rough night. Thoughts of the clue hunt were plaguing him. If he was entirely honest with himself it wasn't going quite as well as he and Natalie had been sure it would. Why? It was all because of those Cahills. Meek, stuttering Amy and her obnoxious brother Dan, as unlikely as it seemed, were already the most threatening of the teams. They had accomplished things no one else had ever been able to do. They'd broken into and escaped from both the Lucian stronghold in Paris and the Janis stronghold in Venice. Unthinkable! They, not he and Natalie, had found both clues first. They'd even found the Lucian serum. Yes, he'd been able to get the serum from them, but they'd still managed to escape with the next lead. In fact, they always seemed to escape. Even Irina hadn't been able to eliminate them. What was it about those two that made them so invincible? On the outside, they appeared to have nothing, to be nothing. Grace must have trained them secretly and given them all sorts of inside information. That had to be it.

That last incident in Venice at Fidelio Racco's home had been, well, a humiliating disgrace. Amy and Dan had left the Kabras knocked out while they got away with the clue and the lead to the next one. Ian had woken up to hefty guards pointing large, deadly weapons in his face. Thanks to his Lucian training he'd been able to talk himself and Natalie out of trouble, but it hadn't been easy, especially since he'd still been recovering from the slight concussion to the back of his head from the harpsichord explosion. Mum and Dad had been furious at them, not only for losing the clue and letting the Cahills get away, but also for the amount of money they'd had to pay to compensate for the destruction of Mozart's harpsichord.

After that disastrous incident they'd barely had time to track Amy and Dan and get to the airport with their fake documents. They'd been so rushed that they'd only been able to grab their already packed carry-ons. They hadn't had time to check in any luggage, which was why Ian was now forced to wear Harold's scratchy, too big pants. At least he had his own pajamas to sleep in.

It was all Amy and Dan's fault. Because of them his parents were losing faith in him. The Cahills were dangerous competitors and had to be eliminated. Ian knew what he had to do; maintain this alliance with them until the next clue was found, then get rid of them once and for all. But could he actually do it? He'd never personally killed anyone before. There was a big difference between ordering someone's death over the phone or causing an explosion or cave-in from afar, and actually being the one to take someone's life. And he'd have to do that to people he was spending time with, getting to know pretty well. Well, one person, anyway. The younger brother, Daniel, was annoying, but Amy wasn't so bad, really. Spending time with her had not been as unpleasant as he'd expected. It would be a shame when the time came for him to…do what he had to do.

Ian finally drifted off to a restless sleep, only to dream of his parents confronting him. Vikram and Isabel loomed over him, glaring disappointedly. He was sitting, terrified, in a Lucian interrogation room. They started their tirade. "What do you have to say for yourself, Ian?" came his father's cold, disapproving voice. "You are an embarrassment to the Lucians and to our family. You are the heir to the Lucian leadership. We expect better of you."

"But I got the first clue, and gave you the Lucian serum," Ian defended himself.

"That's not good enough. What happened to the second clue?" shouted his father, "Look what trouble you caused. And now you've had to resort to following others when you should be the one being followed. Kabras are winners, not losers. If you fail in this hunt you will prove that you are worthless and not worthy of being my son."

"You are going soft, my son," cut in Isabel, using her icy, sharp scalpel voice. "You have been wasting your time befriending the enemy. If you don't shape up now there will be very unpleasant consequences for you and for your sister. You must kill the Cahills or what happens to Natalie will be on your head." She smiled her beautiful, evil smile at him. Then, suddenly, there was a sleek, silver dart gun in her hand and she was pointing it right at Natalie, who was struggling against the grip of two huge Lucian agents. Isabel laughed an incredibly evil, scary laugh and pulled the trigger.

Ian woke with a start and sat up in bed. He rubbed his face, then slumped back against the headboard with a thump. _What a horrible dream. But it was just a dream. That would never really happen,_ he reassured himself. He got up to get a drink of water from the bathroom and realized that he was hungry. _Oh yes, Korean "food" for dinner. No wonder I'm hungry._ Maybe he could find something to eat in the kitchen. Getting a snack would help him take his mind off his dream. He put on his robe and slippers and left his room.

There was a faint glow coming from the kitchen area, so Ian was able to find his way easily in the semi-darkness. Apparently someone had left the light on. He stopped short as he walked in the doorway to the kitchen. _So much for taking my mind off things. _Sitting hunched over at a small table in one corner, thoroughly engrossed in a book, was his enemy, the cause of all his current problems. Amy was wearing an old, holey, oversized t-shirt that had a waving American flag on it and said "Old Navy", and what appeared to be worn gym shorts. Her hair was tangled and partly obscuring her face. On the table in front of her were a mug with steam coming from it and an open box of crackers. She looked small and vulnerable and ragged sitting alone in the corner of that big, modern kitchen, a bit like a street urchin, certainly not someone he'd normally spend time with. Ian hesitated. What should he do? Maybe he should just go back to bed. He felt his stomach rumble with hunger. _Or maybe not. _Ah, well, he'd just have to make the best of the situation.

"Nice pajamas. Do you make a habit of sleeping in your dirty laundry?"

"No, I won't marry you, jerk!" shouted Amy, then she gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide and her face flushing bright red.

"I didn't know I was asking. Or does speaking of pajamas equate to proposing to you Americans?"

"I-I-Ian! Y-y-you st-startled me." Amy's voice came out high and shaky. She looked up at Ian in alarm, which quickly turned to amusement. He was wearing light blue striped silk pajamas, a coordinating navy velour bathrobe with the Kabra coat of arms embroidered in gold on the pocket and matching navy corduroy slippers. His hair was sticking up at crazy angles, which made him look younger and somehow more human, like a little boy dressing up in his father's bathrobe. "Wh-what are you doing up?" she asked hesitantly.

"I could ask you the same question," Ian responded. "I got hungry, so I decided to look for something actually edible. Do you usually stay up this late reading? I thought you were tired."

"I was, but then I just couldn't sleep. Sometimes it helps if I read. I found some crackers that aren't too bad. Do you want some?"

"Hm, I don't know. I wonder if he has any marmalade to put on them." Ian began to poke around in the cupboards. "What are you drinking? Tea?"

"No," Amy answered, "just warm milk. The tryptophan in it helps make you sleepy."

"Tryptophan. Good idea." Ian opened the refrigerator and began to rummage through it. "Ah, butter. I can put that on the crackers." He came to the table armed with a mug, plate, butter knife, butter and milk. He poured himself some milk and heated it in the microwave, then sat down across from Amy and helped himself to some of the crackers, carefully spreading butter on each one. "Too bad there wasn't any marmalade," he muttered as he took a bite.

Amy giggled quietly. "Butter and marmalade on crackers. Interesting."

"Really? I don't know, you're the one who ate that stuff Nellie made tonight." At that Amy shrugged and smiled shyly at him. "So what are you reading anyway?" Amy flipped the book up to show him. "Jane Austen. Girl book. I should have known."

"Hey, Jane Austen is one of the all time great writers. Her books give unique insight into human nature and interactions and the customs of the day. She wrote with intelligence and humor. And you could probably learn something from reading this book." Amy finished her indignant speech with her chin up and a glare at Ian.

"Save the lecture! I had to learn all of that in literature class. So mundane. I prefer deeper reading, such as Shakespeare's tragedies."

_Yeah, you would,_ thought Amy,_ everyone dies in those._ They were silent for a while, eating their crackers. Then Ian said,

"That was very clever of you today, figuring out that the page in Hideyoshi's book fit over the map we found in Tokyo. What made you think to do that?"

Amy swallowed, took a sip of her milk and replied, "Thanks, I don't really know what made me think of it. It just clicked for me, like puzzle pieces. I could suddenly just see that the two pages fit together. It was really thanks to Dan that we have it, though. If he hadn't knocked that book off the shelf we might not have ever found it."

"I suppose that's true." Ian paused thoughtfully. "You and Daniel are very close, aren't you?"

"Well, sometimes he can be totally annoying. A lot of the time, actually." Ian nodded in understanding. "But we're really all each other has, so I guess we are pretty close." Talking about Dan made Amy start to feel sad all over again. She didn't know why she was telling Ian this. He'd probably use it against her sometime. But for some reason, sitting here with him in the middle of the night in pajamas and messy hair, everything seemed different and she let her guard down a little. To change the subject she asked,

"What about you and Natalie?"

At the mention of Natalie Ian jerked back and then froze, his eyes wide. Amy saw something dark in them - was it a hint of fear? What could Ian possibly be afraid of?

When Amy mentioned Natalie's name Ian's dream came rushing back to him. For a moment he panicked, looking for an escape from the deadly situation. Then a soft voice penetrated his panic.

"Ian, are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Amy was looking at him with concern. He looked back at her and started to relax. He took a deep breath and sat back.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," he finally responded.

"Are you sure? You looked kind of upset," Amy questioned. He still looked pretty rattled, so unlike his usual confident self. Despite herself she felt a little worried about him.

"Yes. Everything is fine," he tried to sound sure of himself, but instead it came out harsh and angry.

"Okay," Amy said softly. She looked down at her book. She looked hurt, and for some reason that bothered him.

"I had a bad dream. That's why I woke up," Ian blurted out.

Amy looked up at him. After a pause she asked cautiously,

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'd really rather not," Ian said quickly. But when he looked into Amy's concerned face he continued, "It was about Natalie, at least the last part of it."

"Oh," Amy said in understanding. That explained why he'd acted so upset when she'd mentioned Natalie. "It must have been a pretty bad dream."

"Yeah."

"Well, it was just a dream. It probably didn't mean anything." Amy gave him a little smile.

"Right. I'm not one to dwell on things like that anyway." Ian quickly buttered and ate another cracker so he didn't have to say anything else. Surprisingly, he felt a little better, now that he'd told Amy about his dream. But just admitting a weakness like having a bad dream was uncomfortable for him. It made him seem weak and vulnerable, and he didn't want anyone to think that about him, especially Amy Cahill.

"Do you think we'll find something tomorrow with that map?" Amy asked after awhile.

"Yes, it's a very good lead. We may find our clue tomorrow." Ian responded. _And then our alliance will have to end – badly, _he reminded himself. He'd worry about that tomorrow, or whenever they found the clue, he decided. But for now he could still enjoy Amy's company.

Amy had her hand on the table, playing with her mug. Ian carefully put his hand on hers. "I'm glad we made this alliance. I think we work well together, don't you?"

Amy stared at Ian's hand on hers. She didn't move, couldn't breathe. Ian picked her hand up and held it. Finally Amy dared to look up, right into Ian's penetrating eyes, and gasped. He was so close to her. He began to lean forward, and she felt herself slowly leaning forward too. Her eyes flitted closed.

"Cuckoo, Cuckoo." The unexpected shriek of a nearby cuckoo clock caused both Ian and Amy to jump and sit back in their chairs.

"T-Two o'clock. Oh wow, it's so l-late. Or early, actually. I should really t-try to get some sleep," Amy babbled nervously. She jumped up to put away the dishes and the food. Ian just sat there and watched her with his intense gaze.

"Yes, you're right. We should try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is an important day." With the kitchen light out the house was much darker. Ian handed Amy her book, then took her elbow to help guide her as they made their way to the bedrooms. She let him. At Amy's door they stopped and faced each other. Ian slid his hand down Amy's arm to her hand. He pulled her closer to him. "Goodnight, Amy Cahill," he whispered, as he leaned down to her.

Amy began to lean towards Ian too, then she suddenly realized what she was doing. "Goodnight Ian," Amy squeaked. She tore her hand out of Ian's and darted into her room, shutting the door quickly behind her. Leaning back against the door she let her legs finally collapse, sliding down to the floor. She put her hands over her face and screamed quietly. _I almost kissed Ian Kabra! Ian Kabra almost kissed me! Twice! How did _that_ happen? What am I doing? He's the enemy, and a jerk! An amazing, perfect… jerk...Sigh…No he's not! Help!_ Amy gave up her hope of getting any sleep at all that night.

Ian was quite satisfied with himself as he made his way down the hall to his room. That couldn't have gone better if he'd planned it. Amy was falling right into his trap. Getting her to almost kiss him had been a stroke of genius on his part. He ignored the little

flip-flop his own stomach made when he thought about their near-kisses. Now all he had to do was find the clue and end the alliance. Then he could get back to life as usual, winning the clue hunt and proving to his parents that he really was the best and worthy of their pride and trust.

**A/N: Here is the alternate ending. I like this one much better, but no matter how I tried I just couldn't make it fit with what Peter Leranges wrote. Sigh.**

Ian stumbled down the dark hall to his room. He felt dazed, like his brain was full of cotton. He couldn't think about anything except how close he and Amy had been. They had almost kissed. Twice. He had wanted to kiss her. He laid down on his bed, staring up into the darkness, replaying everything. He didn't want to think about tomorrow or the clue hunt or expectations or assignments or enemies. He didn't want to go to sleep and have another horrible dream. He just wanted to stay in this moment, thinking about Amy.

**A/N: Well, there it is. I hope you liked it. Please let me know what you though (reveiw - hint, hint). There will be one more chapter, about the morning before their hike up to the cave. I think it may be a while before I post again. I have a couple of really major projects I have to do, and I've sort-of got writer's block. If anyone has any suggestions for what should happen in the morning, I'd love to hear them. Thanks! Also, I have written a one-shot, or possibly two-shot, about a missing moment from Ian's perspective in Storm Warning, so I'll probably post that next. Thanks for reading!**

**SqueakyDolphin6**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi, SqueakyDolphin6 here. I'm finally back. I'm SO sorry for not updating in...however many weeks. Life just got really, extremely busy and I couldn't even think about my stories, much less work on them. I finally got some breathing time, so here is the last chapter for you. I hope you like it. This has been a lot of fun to write, and pretty successful for my first time. Thanks so much to all of you who reviewed!**

**I also rewrote much of Chapter 1, removing all that fangirl Ian-thinking-about-Amy stuff that didn't really go, so please go back and reread it and let me know what you think now. I'm updating my one-shot series, Thinking About Her, so please check that out too. The new chapter for that is really funny, I think.**

**Special thanks to JanusGirl101 for posting this for me. Love ya! We'll get the account thing sorted out very soon, promise.**

**Hey, did any of you do Mission 11? What did you think of the "new" Ian? Personally, no. Just no. Yuck!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own 39 Clues, The Twilight Saga or Robert Pattinson.**

**Its Called Enjoying Yourself**

**Chapter 4**

**Morning at the Oh Estate**

Amy woke to banging and Nellie's voice calling her name. She could tell it was just before dawn. Something kept hitting her in the back, and there was a terrible crick in her neck. She sat up slowly and looked around. Why had she been lying on the floor? And then she remembered: Not being able to sleep, getting a snack, Pride and Prejudice, Ian. _Ian!_ _Kissing! Well, almost._ Had that really happened, or had it been a really weird dream? No, here she was, on the floor, back against the door, cheek on her book. That was proof enough.

The door bumped open and Nellie stuck her head in, yelling,

"Amy, Am – hey, what are you doing on the floor? Did you sleep down there? 'Cause there's a perfectly good bed in here, you know. Anyway, you were blocking the door so I couldn't get in to wake you up. We have to hurry and have breakfast. Your uncle says it's a pretty long drive up to that Pukey-san Mountain or whatever. Amy, are you okay?"

Amy heard Nellie's voice faintly through what seemed like cotton in her head. She felt like she was moving through Jell-o as she slowly stood up.

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay Nellie. I guess I fell asleep on the floor. You can go wake up Dan now. I'll be there in a few minutes." She started to shove Nellie out the door. She desperately needed to be alone to gather her thoughts.

"O-kay…" Nellie gave Amy a funny look that said, "Are you sure you're okay? Because you're acting really weird this morning," and left.

* * *

Natalie had been banging on Ian's door for a whole minute already without getting any response and she had had enough. After staying up to watch the complete three-part Twilight Saga in one sitting last night she was tired and grumpy and not in the mood to go to all this work just to wake up her lazy brother. She gave up and quickly picked the lock. _Useless Ekat locks,_ Natalie scoffed to herself as she glided stealthily over to Ian's bed.

He was still asleep, clutching his pillow tightly, a goofy grin on his face. _Pathetic,_ she thought in disgust. Natalie leaned over and whispered in his ear,

"Ian…"

"Amy…" Ian mumbled in his sleep.

"Eew, gross!" shrieked Natalie. Ian jerked awake, throwing the pillow hard at Natalie's face in one smooth, reflexive motion.

"Ah! Hey, watch it!" Natalie exclaimed. "I was just waking you up. You should be thanking me, not pummeling me."

"Well, you should have done it from farther away," responded Ian, fully awake now. "You can go, I'll see you in a little while," he dismissed her abrubtly.

Natalie snickered as she left the room.

"You should be glad I woke you from that pathetic dream you were having, brother. Ta ta!" She darted out, slamming the door behind her.

_What pathetic dream?_ Ian wondered. _What exactly did Natalie see and hear? This could be bad._ Whatever he had been dreaming was already fading, but he could just grasp the last images of it. Had he been embracing someone? Who? And then he realized it was Amy Cahill. _Amy? Why would I dream that about her? Well, best not to dwell on it._ Ian got up and began to get ready for the day without giving his dream another thought. He had a feeling that today was the day. He just knew he and Natalie would prevail and succeed in their objectives. He had to be focused and ready for action to grab the clue first and get rid of their competitors. _No distractions!_

* * *

Nellie had made a great breakfast, with her patented cheese-eggs, toast and orange juice. She expected everyone to be in high spirits, with tons of energy, looking forward to today's events, as she and Alistair were. Instead, all four kids looked like zombies.

Dan's head kept falling forward onto his plate between bites. She wasn't so surprised about that, figuring he'd stayed up way too late playing video games. Natalie's behavior, though, was very surprising. She had spent all her earlier energy waking up her brother and was now actually slumped over sideways, her head propped up with one hand and a dreamy look in her eyes. Every once in a while she would mumble something about vampires and wanting to be sparkly or something like that, in between picking at her food.

Amy and Ian were both quietly eating their breakfasts and not saying much. Both had dark circles under their eyes. Once they yawned at the same time. They glanced at each other, and Amy gave Ian a small smile. Instead of returning it, though, Ian had stared blankly at her for a second, then quickly looked away. Amy just as quickly looked back down into her food, blinking rapidly. _Huh. What was _that_ about?_ Nellie wondered. _Better keep an eye on those two today._

Dan's head fell forward into his eggs again and stayed there.

"Hey Dan, you better wake up," Nellie said. There was no response. Nellie tried again,

"DAN!" She yelled. Dan shot straight up in his chair, eggs and cheese stuck in a gooey yellow clump to his forehead.

"Get down, they're coming!" he yelled, looking around wildly. When he realized he was still at breakfast he relaxed and picked the eggs off his face. He considered the oozy blob for a moment, then popped it into his mouth.

"You are so gross!" Amy teased. "If you didn't stay up all night playing dumb video games maybe you wouldn't end up looking like such a mess. Did you sleep in your clothes again?"

"Oh yeah?" shot back Dan, who was suddenly wide awake for an argument with his sister, "they aren't dumb, they're cool. And you can't talk because you sleep in your old clothes too!"

"Dan! Shut up!" Amy glared at Dan as she blushed, horrified. How could Dan bring up her sleepwear in front of everyone, especially after her encounter with Ian last night? She decided she was going to find a way to get back at him later, as soon as no one was looking.

Just then Ian spoke up for the first time.

"Actually, I do have to agree with Daniel about one thing. You could use nicer pajamas."

Amy's jaw dropped. What was this, attack Amy's clothing day? Without thinking she snapped back furiously,

"Well, its not like we can all afford silk pajamas and velvet bathrobes and slippers! Besides, you didn't seem to mind what I was wearing last night!" Amy's indignation disappeared as she noticed everyone else at the table staring at them in shock. "Um…"

"Uh, never mind. Forget I said anything," said Ian. They both quickly started shoveling in their food. This time they were both blushing bright red.

In the awkward silence that followed, Natalie said dreamily, "Edward was wearing a bathrobe…"

Ian was very glad Natalie was distracted right now, or she'd never let him forget the slip he had just made. What was he thinking? He hadn't been, that was the problem. Amy had caught him off guard and he had just said the first thing that came to his mind. He couldn't let her make him lose focus like that.

_What? Last night? What happened last night?_ Nellie wondered. Come to think of it, she had noticed a couple of mugs in the sink and a few crumbs on the kitchen table this morning when she came in to help make breakfast. Had Amy and Ian been up together in the kitchen last night? Nellie had checked in the den on her way to bed, and it had been dark and empty. She had assumed the kids had gone to bed. Their own beds. Anyway, since when did that Cobra get to comment on her kiddo's pajamas? _Since when does Ian know what Amy wears to sleep in anyway? Duh, since last night, obviously._ _I think Amy and I need to have a little heart-to-heart chat as soon as possible._

Nellie squinted suspiciously at Ian, then at Amy. They were definitely acting strange. She saw Ian glance over at Amy, then at Natalie, then back down at his plate. He actually looked a little sad, she thought. She saw Amy, who was obviously pretending to ignore Ian, playing idly with the handle of her mug. She suddenly snatched her had away and put it in her lap, staring hard at it, then darting a quick peek at Ian. _Hm, _something_ must have happened between those two last night, but what?_ Nellie was determined to find out.

When breakfast was finally over Alistair urged the others to quickly gather what they would need for the day. Nellie had made lunch for everyone, and they packed Amy's backpack with lanterns and other hiking items. Alistair had the map and overlay carefully paper clipped together. The good breakfast had given the kids some much needed energy and they all began to feel eager to get going.

When they got to the limo Dan pushed quickly past Amy to sit by the window. There was no way he was going to spend a couple of hours sitting next to either Kabra. It didn't occur to him that by grabbing the window seat he was forcing Amy to spend the entire trip next to Ian, and she wasn't really protesting. Ian didn't seem too upset about the seating arrangements either. Dan didn't notice, but Nellie did. She raised her eyebrows but kept quiet, content to just observe for now. She took her seat facing Ian, with Natalie on her right and Alistair after that, next to the far window and across from Dan.

Amy groaned to herself. Could this day get any more awkward? Other than his bizarre pajama attack comment at breakfast Ian hadn't said much all morning. He seemed to be somewhat distracted. She couldn't figure out why he was ignoring her after their sort-of civilized conversation last night. And after almost kissing. He had to be playing more games with her emotions. _Well, its back to the clue hunt, back to the normal, nasty Ian,_ she figured. It was better if she hated him anyway, safer. She knew he couldn't be trusted. If he was nasty to her it was easier to hate him. She had to remember to "trust no-one." She decided to just ignore him like he was ignoring her.

Ian was all business now. He couldn't allow any more slip-ups. No more "going soft." He still had to try to gain Amy's trust and affection, but he must keep his guard up and be prepared to act immediately when the moment came to strike. Winning the Clue Hunt was the only thing that mattered. It was what he had trained all his life for, and nothing was going to distract him from that purpose. Ah, Amy was sitting next to him in the limo. Good. He could use that to his advantage, maybe get her distracted enough to give up her clues to him.

* * *

They had been riding in silence for a while and Amy was feeling stiff and cramped from holding herself away from creepy Ian. Ignoring him hadn't been hard at all. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts today. Finally, Amy asked to look at the map and took it carefully from Uncle Alistair. Ian leaned closer to Amy, asking,

"Do you mind if I look at it too?"

Surprised, Amy moved the map so it was between them. Together they studied it carefully, pointing out various landmarks and looking up to see if they could recognize anything outside yet. Their heads were very close together, and occasionally their hands brushed. Whenever they did Amy's hand felt tingly, which made it hard to think straight. Every once in a while, Amy's hair would swing forward and swish against Ian's cheek. He found himself lifting his hand once, intending to gently move her hair back behind her ear, but he stopped himself.

Nellie was keeping a careful eye on the two teenagers without seeming to, watching them from half-closed lids. _Mm hm._ _Look how close they're sitting. Its so obvious they like each other. You can practically feel the tension from here. I wonder if they even realize it themselves. Huh, who would have thought._ Nellie shook her head and looked out the window, listening to her ever-present I-pod at a deafening volume.

Once again, silence had fallen over the car. Nellie looked up to check out the kids. Natalie had succumbed to her lack of sleep long ago and was passed out, leaning against a rather uncomfortable-looking Alistair. Dan was staring out the window with glazed eyes, his face a pale green. He looked like he was trying to will himself not to be sick. _Better not bother him, then,_ Nellie thought to herself.

Amy had fallen asleep with her head on Ian's shoulder and Ian, also asleep, had his head on Amy's. The map rested, forgotten, half on Ian's lap and half on Amy's. Both looked peaceful and content. _Aw, they look soooo cute!_ _But no, that's bad. It is not good for Amy to look cute with Ian Kabra, of all boys, that lying, cheating, stealing, no-good Lucian. I've got to do something about this!_ _Ooh, I know. _Nellie started to sing loudly to the current song on her I-pod. That did the trick. Everyone in the car was roused.

Dan moaned, "Nellie, cut it out. I'm already feeling sick."

Amy stirred, then lifted her head from Ian's shoulder. As she woke more fully she realized what she'd been sleeping on. She turned to Ian, eyes wide. He was looking back at her with an equally startled expression, which he quickly covered with a confident smirk.

"Did you enjoy your nap on my shoulder, Amy? I certainly hope so, because you've wrinkled my shirt." _That's it, keep her off balanc_e, he told himself.

Amy drew in a quick breath and snapped sarcastically, "Oh, s-sorry." _Stupid jerk and his stupid, comfortable, expensive shirt, _she thought. She glared at Ian and leaned as far as she could the other way, crushing Dan against the door. Dan didn't even protest, just moaned and swallowed. Uncle Alistair looked up with concern and tried to move his feet to the side, away from Dan. Nellie was still loudly wailing to her song, and that finally woke up Natalie.

She whined, "Would someone please kill that dying cat and put it out of our misery."

Nellie stopped singing and grinned at her. _Mission accomplished,_ she thought with satisfaction.

Just then Alistair announced, "We are almost to Seoul."

**The End**


	5. Epilogue: Outside the Cave

**A/N: Here it is at last, the long-awaited epilogue to this story. Thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed, and favorited this story. I've had so much fun writing it. Just so you know, I'll be posting a follow up to this in my oneshot series Thinking of Her.**

**Epilogue: Outside the Cave**

GGGRRROOOCCCKKK! With shaking earth and thunderous noise, the ugly carving of Hideyoshi ground back into place, exactly reversing its earlier path and sealing the opening of the cave, trapping Alistair, Dan and Amy inside. Ian swiftly bent and removed the coin from Hideyoshi's mouth, sticking it safely back in his pocket. Then he stood there, staring, his suave, confident smirk gone, replaced by a hollow look of regret and disbelief. The last thing he had seen beyond Natalie's dart gun was Amy's shocked, devastated expression, her eyes already beginning to swim with tears, and then the cave had closed. _You did what you had to do, _he thought to himself,_ anything to win."_

They had done it. The mighty Kabras had defeated their poor, American cousins. Ian and Natalie had found the clue, though, disappointingly, it was one the Lucians had already known for ages. They had secured the lead to the next clue, and they had finished off their rivals for good. Their parents would be pleased with them. He should be pleased with himself. So why wasn't he? Ian didn't want to admit it to himself, but deep down he knew it was because he had allowed something to go a bit wrong with this mission. He just couldn't quite figure out how he had let it happen.

Ian's task had been to make Amy Cahill fall for him and, while apparently he had been at least partially successful, it seemed he had also, inexplicably, become somewhat attracted to her at the same time. That had emphatically _not_ been part of the plan. The irony of it all was almost too much to comprehend. He should be proudly calling his parents to report their success here in South Korea. Instead, he just stood staring at the torn up ground, remembering throwing himself on top of Amy to protect her, remembering what had happened next…his lips tingled as he relived the moment he had briefly, impulsively kissed her and said she was lovely. Surprisingly, he had meant both the kiss and the compliment. What had he been thinking? _I wasn't,_ he berated himself. _That was my mistake. _As they'd entered the cave he'd seen Natalie squint her eyes at him suspiciously, so he winked at her to make her think everything was going according to plan, nothing to worry about.

But the plan hadn't included Ian wanting to reach out and hold Amy's hand as they walked through the darkness. The swarming bats had given him his excuse to do so as he helped her up, grasping her hand in his own just a second longer than absolutely necessary. The plan didn't call for Ian to keep glancing at Amy, hoping for her lantern to swing and light up her face so he could see just a glimpse of it. Ian had been brought up right, though, and would never let a few misguided feelings distract him from his goal. Despite his inner turmoil he was still focused on his purpose, so he was easily able to manipulate Amy into giving back the coin. Admittedly though, when the Kabras had been pretending to rejoice with the Cahills over finding the clue, gold, he'd also had to pretend that his heart hadn't pounded wildly when Amy brushed her face against his. The normally composed teen had had to turn away quickly so no one would see how affected he'd been by her touch.

He could never let his family have the slightest inkling of suspicion about what had taken place here between himself and Amy Cahill, or everything he had worked for and been trained for all his life would be lost. Ian knew quite well that Lucians, and especially Kabras, did not allow themselves even a moment to be sidetracked by weak emotions like attraction or regret. If any of the other Lucian agents found out they would gladly exploit his weakness to bring him down and humiliate his parents. If Ian's own family realized he'd had feelings for Amy, fleeting and unwelcome though they were, he would surely be harshly disciplined to train them out of him. Shameful feelings of friendship or sympathy for one such as her would never be tolerated. Ultimately none of that mattered, though. No one would ever know. He had carried out his mission with single-minded focus, regardless of his own feelings. He had been true to his Lucian blood and training in that, at least.

He was brought back to the present by the sound of angry voices and, very faintly, weeping coming from inside the cave. The slight feeling of regret in his stomach grew into a sick feeling. He shouldn't be here, listening to Amy's tears. He shouldn't care about her at all.

"What are you doing?" Natalie's sudden appearance at Ian's side startled him, snapping him out of his reverie. "Why are you still standing here? We've got the lead. Let's go. I'm tired, there are disgusting bat droppings on my shoes and my hair smells like the stench of that cave. I need to decontaminate myself right away! I've already called for the helicopter, so we must go meet it, _now_. Anyway," she said smugly, "you don't need to guard the opening. Those pathetic fools aren't going anywhere for a very long time." She tugged on his arm and grinned evilly, just like their mother.

Woodenly, Ian turned to go, following his sister down the mountain path they had come up so eagerly only a short time before. It seemed like another lifetime when he'd teased Amy and raced her to the big rock. He climbed up on it to look back at where they'd been. The memory of staring down into Amy's eyes, standing so close to her on the rock in that endless moment, made him catch his breath. Thinking back, he realized that was the moment something had changed between them. All of his disdain and pride had suddenly evaporated and he had no longer wanted to antagonize Amy, he'd just wanted to stare into her eyes.

Ian looked down at the rock W formation, remembering their brief kiss once again. Amy, Dan and Alistair would get out eventually, he rationalized. They were Cahills, they always managed to escape. Surely he would see Amy at some other locale during this hunt and once again enjoy teasing her and making her blush. Maybe he'd even get a chance to kiss her again, for real this time.

As Ian pondered, a deep rumbling sound came and the earth beneath their feet started to shake. Then, right before his eyes, the entire W collapsed, from one end to the other. He gasped, shocked. Natalie climbed up next to him and gave a short laugh.

"That takes care of those peasants for good. And we didn't even have to get our hands dirty. Well, mostly." She inspected her palms, then dusted them off with her pink silk monogrammed handkerchief.

"Yeah," Ian responded weakly, still staring. _Amy. She was in there. She's gone now and I killed her. _What was wrong with him? He shouldn't be so upset by the death of their enemies.

"I guess we won't have a chance to go back and collect all that gold now," Natalie sighed. "I suppose it will be sent to museums and collections. Such a waste. Ian, we'd really better go now before anyone figures out we were involved," Natalie urged impatiently. Ian blindly stumbled after her, not seeing the path down the mountain, but only the events of the last day and a half. His mind was replaying every conversation with Amy, every glance and touch.

He eventually became aware of Natalie frowning accusingly at him and realized she had noticed his strange behavior. He mentally shook himself and ruthlessly squashed down any sadness and remorse he was feeling. He had to stop thinking about that miserable -_dead-_ peasant -_Amy-,_ or Natalie would know something was up. He reminded himself what his priorities were. He could be proud of himself because he'd done exactly what he needed to do to win the clue and figure out the next location. He had proved himself worthy of his parents' highest praises. He was Ian Kabra, brilliant, ruthless and successful. No girl, dead or alive, was going to distract him from his goal. After all, winning the Clue Hunt was the only thing that truly mattered.

Ian turned away from Puhkansan Mountain and ran after Natalie to board their helicopter, eager to put South Korea behind him and get to the next location. Already busy on his phone lining up their flight, he did not see two tiny figures emerge from behind the trees and join the uniformed people swarming the ground. He did not see one of them stare up at the rapidly shrinking helicopter and wipe her eyes.

**The End**


End file.
